U.S. troops may be sent to Eastern Europe

ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 10, 2014 12:01 AM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 10, 2014 12:01 AM

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove gestures during an interview with the Associated Press in Paris, Wednesday April 9, 2014, as he talks about his mission to formulate a plan to help protect and reassure NATO members nearest Russia. NATO's top military commander in Europe, Breedlove is tasked with drafting countermoves to the Russian military threat against Ukraine. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)AP

PARIS -- NATO's top military commander in Europe, drafting countermoves to the Russian military threat against Ukraine, said Wednesday they could include deployment of American troops to alliance member states in Eastern Europe now feeling at risk.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove told the Associated Press he wouldn't "write off involvement by any nation, to include the United States."

Foreign ministers of the 28-nation alliance have given Breedlove until Tuesday to propose steps to reassure NATO members nearest Russia that other alliance countries have their back.

"Essentially what we are looking at is a package of land, air and maritime measures that would build assurance for our easternmost allies," Breedlove said. "I'm tasked to deliver this by next week. I fully intend to deliver it early."

Asked again if American soldiers might be sent to NATO's front-line states closest to Russia, the four-star U.S. general said, "I would not write off contributions from any nation."

In March, Russian troops took control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, whose inhabitants then voted in a referendum to secede and join Russia.

The U.S. and other Western countries have accused Moscow of massing troops on Ukraine's border to maintain the pressure on the government in Kiev, and possibly for military use.

Speaking at the end of a NATO conference in Paris, Breedlove said the Russian armed presence near Ukraine's frontier continues unabated.

To illustrate his point, the general's staff provided a set of commercial satellite photographs they said showed Russian warplanes, combat helicopters, armor, artillery and a probable airborne or special forces brigade deployed in locations east of the Ukraine-Russian border, including along the coastline of the Sea of Azov.

A defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, reviewed the satellite images and said the forces depicted in them don't appear to be involved in training exercises.

They appear to be "in combat readiness," Anthony Cordesman said.

But he said it's unclear from the images how much of a buildup of Russian forces there has been in the border area.

The commercial provider of the photographs, DigitalGlobe, said they were taken in late March.